Yesterday we talked about
comments by Michael Oreskes, NPR’s Senior VP of News, at the Public Radio News
Directors (PRNDI) annual conference held last week in Miami. Oreskes also broke
some news during the conference: NPR is planning on reorganizing its internal
system into regional hubs.
According to a post by Al
Tompkins on the Poynter Institute’s blog [link], Oreskes told news folks at the
conference, that NPR envisions, "more than four and less than 12 hubs
around the country."
News gathering and
reporting is now centralized in NPR’s Washington, DC newsroom.
 |
| Michael Oreskes speaking at PRNDI |
Oreskes said that the new
regional hubs are needed to better cover regional stories. He said the new
arrangement is intended to make it easier for local stations to share expertise
and resources for their investigative work and digital content.
The changes-in-progress
reflect the increasing importance of local and regional reporting on all
platforms. NPR says it is moving toward stronger ties to local stations for
coverage of beats such as health, veterans, education, environment and covering
state governments.
Oreskes said that 90 stations
are already involved in the effort. The goal is to have at least 200 stations
participating.
Tompkins reported that
there was some push back from News Directors who were attending the conference.
Questions arose regarding NPR’s intentions, specifically whether NPR envisions
taking over local stations or local websites. Oreskes assured attendees that this
not the vision now.
NPR says they will begin
implementing the regional hubs next year but it may take three years to build
the entire system.
REVISITING MONDAY’S POST ABOUT COLEMAN/PRPD
“AWARENESS” SURVEY
Last Monday (6/26) I
posted a column [link] that fell below my own standards. I rushed to publish it
before I had all of the facts. Plus, the tone seemed mean spirited and it was
not fair to the people and organizations involved.
The post concerned new
research from Coleman Insights and PRPD about the relatively low awareness of
public radio by the general public. I didn’t, and still don’t, believe the
survey’s premise and recommendations are of great value. This is my own opinion and I offered it to
spark discussion.
When I began publishing
this blog in September 2014, my goal was, and still is, fact-based reporting. I
publish news about public media that is often not available from other sources
or requires more context than what others have reported. My style is typically irreverent and it
challenges assumptions. I feel I am making a contribution to our collective
enterprise.
When I saw Jody Evans'
follow-up comment on Facebook on Tuesday (6/27) I knew I had screwed up. In the original post, I mistakenly assumed
that PRPD had paid Coleman Insights for this project. Evan’s said in her
comment that Coleman had donated their services and expertise. I felt like the
ungrateful creep that I sometimes am.
I also did not correctly
describe Coleman’s methodology. I should
have checked the facts with Coleman and PRPD before publishing my
article. In my rush to get the story out, I failed to do my due diligence. I
apologize to Jody Evans and Warren Kurtzman of Coleman Insights for my error.
Most of all, I hope that I
have not hurt Warren Kurtzman’s enthusiasm for being of assistance to public
radio. He has provided insight and wise council to our industry for many years.
Coleman’s work is top-notch and I regret implying that the “awareness” survey
is not welcome, even though I found flaws in portions of it.
I have rewritten Monday’s
post and it now reflects the facts and my own opinions. You, my readers,
deserve my best work, based on facts, not assumptions and innuendos. I will do
better in the future.
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